1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a swivel adapter mount that can be used with excavating equipment, such as a backhoe or excavator. A bucket of other implement can then be moved to positions that would not be possible with a conventional backhoe or similar device. This invention is also related to bearing assemblies that will operate in such an environment with a relatively long service life.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional backhoes and crawler type excavators are not suited for digging ditches with sloping sides. These types of conventional excavating equipment do not have the ability to tilt or swivel a bucket or claw so that a slope can be graded. Therefore a separate piece of equipment, such as a device with a telescoping boom and tilted claw, such as the type manufactured by Gradall are typically employed.
The instant invention provides a swivel adapter mount that allows a bucket to be tilted so that a slope can be graded by using a backhoe, a crawler type excavator or similar piece of equipment.
There have been earlier devices that are intended to tilt or swivel an excavating bucket for use in grading a slope. However, these devices have not proven to be effective. In some cases they require a large number of component parts and are therefore costly both to manufacture and to repair. The more parts that are necessary than the chance then the greater the chance of a break down if other things are equal. Others have not proven to be sturdy enough for use in the field.
Most of these prior art devices employ hydraulic means to rotate a bucket through and angle of approximately forty-five degrees. If these devices could rotate through three hundred sixty degrees or be capable of continuous rotation, they could be employed with implements other than buckets and could greatly expand the versatility of backhoes, crawler excavators or similar commonly available equipment.
Mechanisms to tilt or swivel a bucket on the end of an excavating boom have been discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,515,626; U.S. Pat. No. 5,561,926; U.S. Pat. No. 6,146,082; U.S. Pat. No. 6,539,650; and in International Published Patent Application WO 2007/097698. However, none of these approaches is believed to be as versatile and reliable as the swivel adapter mount of the instant invention.